Surface drains



Jan. 15, 1957 M. A. SISK SURFACE DRAINS Filed May 22, 1953 United States Patent SURFACE DRAINS Martin A. Sisk, Pittsburgh, Pa. Application May 22, 1953, Serial No. 356,749

1 Claim. (Cl. 182-31) My invention relates to surface drains for use in the floors of shower bath enclosures, roadways, decks of ships, floors and roofs of buildings, and the like, to provide debris-excluding protection at the inlets of drain openings or pipes. The structure of the invention will'also find utility as a guard for pipes and openings of any sort in which liquid is received, and in the operation of which it is desirable to exclude solids of a size that might clog the opening, or the pipe leading therefrom.

In general, an outlet or floor drain of the type in mind consists in a cup-shaped body that is installed within or below the floor or other structure whose surface is to be drained, and the inlet of the body is covered by a removable top or grate. The upper face of the grate usually lies flush with the surface to be drained. The body of the drain forms a belled terminus at the end of a drain pipe laid beneath or within the structure whose surface is to be drained.

In the usual prior structures the grate consists in a perforate cover of metal which rests at its periphery in a rabbeted seat formed in the rim of the body of the drain, and most of the water entering the drain does so through holes or openings in the cover or grate located inwardly from the rim of the drain body, with the result that the flowing water does not completely flush the inner surface of the side wall of the drain body. Consequently, debris carried by the waste water tends to accumulate on such surface of the drain body, especially just below the grate, and between the seat in the drain body and the edge of the grate. The accumulated debris over a period of time decomposes, creating foul odors and unsanitary conditions. In order to cleanse such drains, it is necessary to remove the grate and scrub or scrape away the accumulations-manifestly an unpleasant task. An important feature of this invention resides in the elimination of these objectionable conditions.

My present invention comprises a drain structure having a peripheral slot whose outer edge is vertically aligned, or substantially so, with the inner surface of the drain body. This slot is efiective throughout the periphery of the drain body inlet, and the internal surfaces of the drain body extend from this slot downwardly to the drain outlet, or to the inlet of the drain pipe on which the drain body is mounted, afiording a clear unrestricted downsweep for the flow of the draining water. No objectionable ledges, channels, or crevices are present in the structure, on which or in which debris may accumulate.

In accordance with my present invention, the peripheral slot is formed between the inner peripheral edge of the drain body rim and the outer peripheral edge of the grate, with the grate supported upon lugs integral with the side wall of the drain body in such manner that no debris may accumulate.

The application for these Letters Patent comprise a continuation-in-part of my copending application, Serial No. 174,935, filed July 20, 1950, now Patent No. 2,695,677.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in plan of a drain structure embodying the invention; and

Fig. 2 is a view of the drain structure in vertical section, on the plane indicated at II-II in Fig. 1.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings the drain body will be seen to comprise a casting 3 of iron, or of a more expensive metal, if desired. The drain body is provided with a peripheral rim 4 that defines the inlet of the drain body, across which a grate 5 is positioned, in this case with the top of the grate flush with the surface 6 of the floor to be drained. Extending downwardly from the rim 4 the side wall of the drain body comprises a vertical succession of smooth annular surfaces e, f, g and h, the latter surface (It) sloping downwardly and inwardly to an 0pen-ingin this case a threaded opening i-which receives the terminal of the drain pipe (not shown), for conducting the drainage liquid to a sewer or other point of disposal.

While the inlet of the drain body is herein shown to be circular in plan, it will be understood that the form of such inlet may be square, octagonal, or of other suitable contour.

The internal surface of the side wall of the drain body,

extending downwardly from the rim 4 in a continuous series of smooth surface areas (2 to h) that fair with one another, provides a downsweep that is unobstructed, having no recesses or ledges in which, or upon which, drainage water, or sediment, or debris may accumulate. Cooperating with such internal surface of the drain body is a slot 7 formed between the inner edge of the rim 4 of the drain body and the outer edge of the annular rim 8 of the grate.

. The lower portion of the drain body has a radially extending horizontal flange 9 upon which the usual subfloor membrane or flashing of lead or tar paper (not shown) is secured. This is a conventional detail of construction, and for present purposes it need only be remarked that any water seeping from the floor surface 6 downwardly between the drain body and the adjacent body of the floor is caught on the membrane and drained through weep holes 10 into the drain body.

The grate or perforate top 5 of the grate structure is in this case of general plate or disk-like form, comprising the annular portion 8, within which annular portion spaced cross-bars or bearer-bars 11 form the open-work structure of the grate, through which drainage liquid may enter the drain body therebelow. As a feature of my structure the slot 7 comprises a substantially continuous peripheral slot between the perforate body of the grate and the rim portion 4 of the drain body.

Extending inwardly from the rim 4 of the drain body is a plurality of relatively narrow radial lugs 12 that are widely spaced apart circumferentially of the grate, so that the slot 7, as far as flow of drainage liquid into the drain is concerned, forms a substantially continuous flushing opening which is peripherally coextensive with the downsweeping wall of the drain structure. The lugs 12 are cast integrally with the side wall portions e and f of the drain body.

Within and below the n'm 4 of the drain body the lugs 12 are formed with shoulders 13, which together form a seat for the grate 5, as shown in Fig. 2. Above the shoulders 13 the bodies of the lugs 12 include portions that laterally engage and secure the grate in accurately spaced relation with respect to the rim 4.

A large part of any liquid to be drained from surface 6 is received by the slot 7, whence the liquid flows straight downwardly upon and over the unrestricted internal surfaces of the drain body below, thereby flushing such surfaces with a cleansing downsweeping flow of liquid. While the slot 7 is narrow enough to exclude from the drain Patented Jan. 15, 1957 solids of a size that might clog the drain pipe, the area of said slot is so proportioned with respect to the aggregate area of the openings between the bars 11 that a large part of the liquid draining into the structure enters by way of the slot, thus insuring the desired scavenging or scouring flow of liquid downward upon the unrestricted drain body side wall.

It it is desirable to flush-out the drain pipe, and the trap associated therewith, with a bucket of water or a hose, it is not necessary, as in the case of prior structures, to remove the grate, since an adequately rapid flow of water through the drain can be obtained to remove sediment from the drain pipe and trap, if indeed sedinlent can collect when the drain of this inventionis used.

My drain structure serves substantially the same purpose as the more costly flushing rim drains that are provided with a hollow rim into which water is piped under pressure. Furthermore, the trapping of such flushing water from city supply lines is undesirable because it necessitates cross connection with the city supply, with the danger of back syphonage and contamination of the city water.

Another point may be mentioned. The particular deep lateral engagement of the grate by the lugs 12 opposes the tendency of the grate to tilt when pressure or load is applied to the rim of the grate.

It will be noted that the radial lugs 12 are of relatively small circumferential extent with respect to the intervening arcuate slots that form the peripheral or auxiliary slot 7. The inwardly extending radial lugs not only support and secure the grate, but positively space the rim of the grate away from the side wall of the drain body.

While the drain body 3 is herein shown to consist of an integral or unitary casting, such body may be formed of a plurality of telescoped body portions, to afford vertical adjustment of the body, as described in my copending application Serial No. 356,748 filed May 22, 1953. Various other modifications of the structure described may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

In a surface drain comprising a drain body provided with an inlet having a peripheral rim and a grate, a peripheral side wall extending downwardly from said rim to an outlet, said peripheral side wall having a portion (e) extending from said rim downwardly to a portion (7) that extends inwardly and downwardly to a succeeding downwardly extending portion (g) that is spaced radially inward from the first-mentioned side wall portion (e), a plurality of relatively narrow lugs integral with said peripheral side wall at points spaced widely apart circumferentially of the drain body, said lugs extending inwardly from said first-mentioned side wall portion (e) and upwardly from said second-mentioned side wall portion said lugs having laterally extending seating shoulders for the vertical support of said grate and portions extending upwardly from said shoulders for laterally securing the grate, said grate having a perforate body within a peripheral rim engaging said seating shoulders and said upwardly extending portions of the lugs, with the outer edge of said rim of the grate spaced at an interval inwardly from said rim of the drain body and forming therewith a relatively wide drainage slot that extends in substantial continuity around the periphery of said inlet, whereby in service the entire internal surface of the drain body is flushed by an unrestricted downsweeping flow of drainage liquid.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,434,254 Sanders Oct. 31, 1922 1,809,413 Hirshstein June 9, 1931 2,607,434 Sisk Aug. 19, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 10,026 Australia 1932 

